Perhaps not for the ROW itself, but the site would be the corner of the eventual development at Lyndale & 58th. It was an inexpensive piece of land that will cost them 2-5x as much to buy when there's an active business occupying it. Hard to justify in a public budget when there's no actual project here, but would've been a drop in the bucket for Hennepin County

If this project ever happens, it will first and foremost be billed as a redevelopment project, not a road project. From the above discussions happening between Ward 11 & 13 councilmembers and staff, they are trying to get this project added to the list of major redevelopment sites and rank it favorably

Right now, CPED is also working on a request from the Council to develop a list of criteria to prioritize development projects that will require some level of City funding. If that process is weighted toward how quickly the anticipated property taxes would be expected to cover the City investment, then this project will score very high. But there are some projects on the list that are much more high profile (Upper Harbor Terminal, the Kmart location at Lake & Nicollet, etc.) that unfortunately may end up ahead of this project in the queue.

For a measly couple hundred thousand, compared to what it will cost a few years down the line (when they will also have to pay the business relocation costs, etc.), this key piece of land should have been an obvious purchase for the city or county. But I understand how difficult that would have been to secure those funds when this isn't even an official city project yet, but hopefully it will be soon.

If this project ever happens, it will first and foremost be billed as a redevelopment project, not a road project. From the above discussions happening between Ward 11 & 13 councilmembers and staff, they are trying to get this project added to the list of major redevelopment sites and rank it favorably

Right now, CPED is also working on a request from the Council to develop a list of criteria to prioritize development projects that will require some level of City funding. If that process is weighted toward how quickly the anticipated property taxes would be expected to cover the City investment, then this project will score very high. But there are some projects on the list that are much more high profile (Upper Harbor Terminal, the Kmart location at Lake & Nicollet, etc.) that unfortunately may end up ahead of this project in the queue.

For a measly couple hundred thousand, compared to what it will cost a few years down the line (when they will also have to pay the business relocation costs, etc.), this key piece of land should have been an obvious purchase for the city or county. But I understand how difficult that would have been to secure those funds when this isn't even an official city project yet, but hopefully it will be soon.

It is on the radar for the city but unfortunately sits well behind other priorities. The "list of criteria..." comment would seem to indicate that this project would fall under the "no brainer" category but "the wheels of government turn slowly" etc.

I say again, a large scale development in a desirable part of town represents a great opportunity for spreading affordable housing throughout the city but apparently it is a "low priority" so...